Wright’s heroics lift Derby past Maize

Maize led for all of 30 seconds in the first 22 minutes of Friday’s game.

For much of the final 10, the Eagles were ahead thanks to the senior wearing No. 3, Dalyn Johnson, who netted 15 of his 18 points in the second half to boost his side to a lead as big as eight down the stretch.

But, after Johnson hit two big free throws to put Maize back in front with 33 seconds to play, it was Derby’s senior No. 3 who performed the final act. Nyjee Wright sprinted the length of the court for a layup that rolled perilously around the rim before falling as the final buzzer sounded to give the Panthers a 67-66 victory.

“The first time we had a shot, we had a play and we couldn’t get to it,” said Wright, referring to the Panthers’ penultimate possession, which ended in him launching a three-pointer that bounced off the back of the rim with less than 10 seconds to go. “I just knew I had to stay with it, go up aggressive and try to make the layup.”

Wright’s runner was a fitting end to a wild final quarter, which was started by Grant Bugbee opening the Maize lead up to eight with a pair of free throws. This came after the Eagles were down by as many as 14 in the first half.

Three minutes later, a Kenyon Tabor basket cut that lead to four, and Wright’s three-point play with 90 seconds made it a 64-63 deficit.

“I think the lack of conditioning kind of caught up to us at points tonight,” said Derby coach Brett Flory, whose team has still only been at full depth for just over a week after the Panthers’ state-championship run in football. “We were dog-tired in the second and third quarter, but the fourth quarter we spent a lot of time saying, ‘Keep playing,’ and they did a great job of that.

“There was a lot of adversity for us tonight. Maize is a great team, really hard to guard, and we were really fortunate to come out on top.”

Derby shot out in front thanks to sinking three threes to go up 9-2 in the first three minutes. The Panthers didn’t slow down, shooting 66.7 percent in the first eight minutes to go up 21-7.

Maize started out the second frame equally as warm, as Bugbee made two three-pointers to help the Eagles go on a 10-2 run and get right back in the game.

The Panthers didn’t allow it to become a one-possession game, though, as Trevor Gordon hit his third shot from deep to stop the Maize rally. Josh Clavin added a fastbreak layup to stretch it to 31-23 later in the half, but the Eagles’ John Short converted a big three-point play with 17 seconds on the clock to make it 33-29 at the break.

Short kept it going in the second half, grabbing a basket after a Derby turnover to give Maize its first lead at 35-34 at the 6:47 mark. That lead didn’t last long, as Wright added his own layup to put the Panthers back in front. The hosts didn’t trail again until Johnson took over inside the final two minutes of the period.

Wright led all scorers with 20 points, adding seven rebounds, five assists, two steals and two blocks. Johnson’s 18 led the Eagles, while Short put up a double-double with 11 points and 12 boards to go with his five assists.

This story was originally published December 9, 2016 at 10:15 PM with the headline "Wright’s heroics lift Derby past Maize."